Why teachers abroad need to make cultural competence a priority

Why teachers abroad need to make cultural competence a priority With demand for teachers internationally at an all-time high, there’s never been a more exciting time to explore teaching abroad. However, for many teachers abroad, finding their feet in a culturally diverse classroom is one of the biggest obstacles they’ll face in their teaching career. Teachers abroad need to be mindful of cultural differences in the classroom and how these can impact teaching and learning outcomes, both inside and outside the classroom. Without this awareness, they risk creating a cultural gap that can hinder positive relationships with students and their families. We recently asked our teaching community to share with us any areas of their teaching practice they most wanted to improve on. The vast majority of teachers we polled identified a critical gap in their teaching practice - specifically in the area of culturally responsive teaching. This didn’t come as too much of a surprise to us at Teach Away. Despite the steadily increasing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations in schools worldwide, research has shown that teacher preparation programs still lag behind when it comes to embracing culturally responsive teaching practices. That's why we’re happy to announce that we’ve launched a brand-new professional development course to help our teachers abroad better relate to students from a broad range of racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Connecting with Students and Parents of Different Cultures was designed with a leading diversity expert to give international teachers the tools that they need to better support their students and create culturally inclusive classrooms. By taking this course, teachers abroad can make the transition to becoming a culturally competent global educator. Culturally Responsive Teaching marks the first in an ongoing series of online teacher professional development courses from Teach Away, focusing on delivering learning opportunities, directly relevant to a teacher’s practice, that respond to critical needs in the classroom. Additional Teach Away course offerings are in the works for later this year, so stay tuned to the blog for more on that front!